Da Jeong Choi (Composer)

Born: Seoul, South Korea

The Korean-born composer, Da Jeong Choi, began conducting at 15. She earned her Bachelor of music degree in music composition at Dankook University in Seoul and her Master of Arts degree in music at Rutgers, University of New Jersey State in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 2003, she entered the doctoral of musical arts program at University of North Texas in Denton, Texas and obtained there in 2011 her Ph.D. degree (Music Composition, Minor in Music Theory). Previous teachers include Jung Sun Park and Gerald Chenoweth. She has studied composition with Joseph Klein, Cindy Mc Tee, and Jon Nelson at UNT, Denton, Texas, USA.

Da Jeong Choi’s works have been performed and broadcasted throughout USA, Canada, Asia, Europe, South America, and New Zealand including the International Computer Music Conference, the International Conference of the College Music Society, the Aspen Music Festival, Society of Composers, Inc., the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the USA, the International Review of Composers, the Echoes of Space, Rarescale: New music for alto and bass flute, Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Belvedere Chamber Music Festival, the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, the Kentucky New Music Festival, the Society of Music Research, CFAMC Biennial Conference, the 2^nd Sung Nam Choir Festival, the 24^th Pan Music Festival (ISCM), the 27^th Seoul Contemporary Music Festival, the 4^th Pusan Contemporary Music Festival, and the 14^th Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Art Song Festival for Young Composers (TV Channel 13, MBC, South Korea). One of Choi’s percussion works, Explorations of a Drum for Snare Drum Solo is on the suggested performance lists for the PAS Italy-International Competition (2011).

Furthermore, , Da Jeong Choi received various awards including the Gold Prize from MunHwa Broadcasting Corporation Composition Contest for Young Composers (1994), the first prize from the Joong Ang Competition (1997), the second prize from Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest (2005), the second prize from the Con/un/drum Solo Percussion Composition Competition (2009), etc. Moreover, Choi’s another artistic outlet is composition series titled Cantus Curatio (Healing Melody in Latin) for solo instrument. These solo works utilize a variety of contemporary creative practices with each work dedicated to the victims of a different disease.

Da Jeong Choi has been a full-time teaching fellow in the Division of Composition Studies from 2006 to 2010 and a teaching assistant in the Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology from 2008 to 2010 at the University of North Texas, Denton, USA. She currently teaches Music Theory, Composition, and Instrumentation at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

Source: Da Jeong Choi Website; American Composers Forum (2007); The Artist (May 2014)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2011); Da Jeong Choi (May 2014)

Da Jeong Choi: Short Biography | Arrangements/Transcriptions: Works | Recordings

Use of Chorale Melodies in her works

Title

Chorale Melody

Year

Passio Christi (Passion of Christ,), arrangement of the hymn, "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" (Passion Chorale) that Bach harmonized in 1729. This hymn tune can be heard in the middle of the work. This new arrangement begins with an illustration of nailing Jesus Christ to the cross and God's painful heart in watching His only Son be shedding blood on the cross.
World Premiere: Four Hands for Piano by Da Jeong Choi & KyeJung Rachel Park (Pianos) on April 11, 2014 at Reynolds Auditorium, Cowden Hall, SWBTS, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

Befiehl du deine Wege

2014

Links to other Sites

Da Jeong Choiu (Official Website)
Da Jeong Choi on Facebook
De Jeon Choi on MySpace

De Jeong Choi (American Composers Forum)

Bibliography